Aldi settles for $55m in class action with underpaid workers

Aldi has reached a proposed $55m settlement with over 30,000 workers in a long-running underpayment dispute.

The supermarket giant has reached an agreement to settle the Federal class action lawsuit with the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, which must still be approved by the court.

The union had alleged that some workers were directed by Aldi to perform duties before and after their shift times, according to a statement of claim filed with the court.

The lawsuit relates to approximately 32,000 former and current store and warehouse staff across Australia.

Aldi has already paid approximately $28.9m to affected workers and the union said it expected that a further $26.3m would be paid, along with $1.5m for the union’s legal fees.

“This is a major result for tens of thousands of current and former Aldi workers. All workers should be paid for every minute they are required to work,” SDA national secretary Gerard Dwyer said.

“The SDA backed workers from the beginning, funded this class action and pursued the case so that workers would receive the benefit of the outcome.

“Almost $29 million has already been paid, and more than $50 million in total payments should be delivered to workers under this settlement.”

The matter will now return to court in October, for approval of the settlement.

The SDA said that Aldi “encouraged, directed, requested and/or conveyed an expectation” that store assistants perform pre-shift work and assigned duties before rostered start times, according to court documents.

“I am proud that Aldi workers stood together and pursued this case,” Kelly Boi, who was the lead applicant in the class action, said.

“Work before and after shifts is now properly recognised and paid, making work at Aldi better.

“The proposed settlement also means I and thousands of other employees will receive a payment for pre and post shift work we performed in the past for no pay.”

In a statement, Aldi said that in 2022 it identified that some employees may not have been paid for all hours worked and began an audit.

The company said that it had already made payment to “warehouse and store employees to avoid the risk that these employees may have performed some tasks before the commencement of their shift and in the case of store employees, at the completion of their shift”.

Aldi said it had audited millions of records to identify workers who may have done work prior and following their shift times.

“As a result, Aldi has made payments to current and former store and warehouse employees, regardless of whether they performed work or not outside of their rostered shifts,” the company said.